As Florida State prepares for Saturday’s showdown with Clemson, arguably the team’s biggest game since the 2001 national championship, the hype machine continues building the lore of redshirt freshman quarterback Jameis Winston.
Through five games, “Famous Jameis” has done nothing but exceed the absurd expectations heaped upon him. He’s thrown 17 touchdowns to only two interceptions while completing nearly 75% of his passes, one of the best starts to a career in college football history.
The latest praise came from former Seminoles coach Bobby Bowden, who had an eye-catching quote in an ESPN profile of Winston[1]. “This young man is as good as anybody we’ve ever had,” Bowden said.
It may seem like hyperbole, but Bowden’s statement isn’t that farfetched.
Considering Florida State’s rich history, you might be surprised to learn the program has only had two quarterbacks drafted in the first round. Oddly enough, they were the Seminoles’ two quarterbacks after Bowden retired – Christian Ponder and EJ Manuel.
Ponder (2011) and Manuel (2013) were both massive reaches in the first round, and Winston has looked far better through five games than either did in multiple years as a starter. Statistically, Winston is already ahead of both of the Seminoles’ previous two quarterbacks. Ponder’s career-high was 20 touchdowns in 2010, while Manuel’s was 23 in 2012.
More importantly, 19-year-old Winston has displayed the sort of poise that neither showed consistently during their times in Tallahassee. He looks wise beyond his years, and so far hasn’t been prone to inopportune turnovers that Ponder and Manuel were.
Of course where a quarterback drafted isn’t a barometer of college success, and the Seminoles have had two quarterbacks win the Heisman in Charlie Ward (1993) and Chris Weinke (2000). In addition to the individual honor, each of them won a national championship.
Weinke holds Florida State’s single-season record with 33 touchdown passes in 2000, a mark Winston currently is on pace to break. When he set that record, Weinke was 28 years old.
Even in his college debut, Winston made history. He went 25-for-27 with four touchdowns against Pitt, breaking Danny Kanell’s school record for single-game completion percentage.
Unless Florida State ends up in a national championship, Winston may never face a test as tough as Saturday in Death Valley. Five games is an extraordinarily small sample size and even if he never wins a national title like Ward or Weinke, a win at Clemson would certainly lend credence to Bowden’s feeling that Winston could be the best quarterback to ever play for Florida State.
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If you’re in class on Florida State’s campus, good luck focusing with the crowd noise getting pumped into practice.
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– As the College Football Playoff committee takes shape and the human element is added to the postseason format, coaches such as Mack Brown want to see strength of schedule in the playoff format[2].
– Our latest bowl projections have Oregon moving into the BCS National Championship Game[3], while Stanford’s loss removes the Cardinal from the BCS picture.
– Paul Myerberg ranks the top 10 contenders for the Heisman[4] after seven weeks of football.
– Over at the Q, the latest mock draft[5] has Marcus Mariota has the first quarterback off the board, ahead of Teddy Bridgewater.
– Will Ferrell led the USC marching band in full Trojan armor[6] because of course he did.
Follow Jesse Yomtov on Twitter @JesseYomtov[7]
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PHOTOS: Betting odds for the Top 25
References
- ^ http://espn.go.com/blog/acc/post/_/id/61553/how-jameis-has-become-so-famous?ex_cid=espnapi_public (espn.go.com)
- ^ http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2013/10/15/college-football-playoff-coaches-on-selection-committee-criteria/2989567/ (www.usatoday.com)
- ^ http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2013/10/15/bowl-projections-bcs-title-game-oregon-alabama-major-changes/2986075/ (www.usatoday.com)
- ^ http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2013/10/15/ranking-the-top-10-heisman-candidates-after-seven-weeks/2987339/ (www.usatoday.com)
- ^ http://q.usatoday.com/2013/10/15/jadeveon-clowney-reclaims-top-spot-marcus-mariota-over-teddy-bridgewater/ (q.usatoday.com)
- ^ http://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/10/will-ferrell-led-the-usc-marching-band-in-full-trojan-armor/ (ftw.usatoday.com)
- ^ http://twitter.com/jesseyomtov (twitter.com)
